Tag Archives: independence pass

August 22, 2012

Measuring the Blue Ridge

As I was climbing Mount Evans with a few Colorado locals, I made reference to one of the hills I had climbed in the Southeast. One of the guys turned and looked at me, and jokingly said “You guys have hills out there?” He had a good point. In terms of elevation, the Blue Ridge pales in comparison to its western counterparts. I had practically lived around 10,000 feet for most of my Colorado stay, and climbed above 11,000 several times, including once over 12,000 feet, and the big one came in at 14,100. Many of those climbs were above the treeline, and yielded views that far surpassed anything we have on the East coast.

But the climbing is different. I was reminded of that when I came back and attempted the Blue Ridge Brutal. Instead of long and gradual climbs, we have short and steep. My legs hurt far more after this ride than anything I had done in the Rockies. Not to take anything away from the Rockies, as I loved every minute of my stay, but the Southeast has some pretty amazing climbing if you ask me.

Let me back up a little bit. Earlier this year when looking for good climbing blogs, I bumped into The Climbing Cyclist. To my surprise, Matt’s website was very similar to mine, only he covered the other side of the world — Australia. I enjoyed reading about his adventures, and shot him a quick note to let him know. Of course I also let him know about my website.

As it turned out, he was planning on a trip to the states later in the year. He would be looking for good places to climb. Did I have any suggestions? Of course I recommended some of the climbs in our corner, and his interest was peaked.

I checked his website a few months later, and to my surprise, he had just climbed Mount Baldy outside of Los Angeles. He then headed to New Orleans, then to New York, and finally to Washington, DC.

We emailed again. He was asking about places to climb near his last two stops. He had already spent some time riding around New York City, and would soon be climbing Whiteface Mountain at Lake Placid. I suggested he try some of the climbs in Vermont, but that didn’t work out. As for Washington, I had no idea, but thought he could try Skyline Drive or the Parkway near Roanoke, Virginia if he was willing to drive a ways.

Then I get an email saying he had set aside a few days, and wanted to try the Blue Ridge Mountains. Which would I suggest, Asheville or Boone? That was like asking a loving mother to pick her favorite son. Ultimately I suggested Asheville because it is a bigger city, and he would be relying on local transportation to get to and from the climbs.

As for where to climb, my first suggestion was the Blue Ridge Parkway up to Mitchell. Why go small, right? It would be quite a climb, but it is also the highest point east of the Mississippi River, and is probably one of the best climbs of the Southeast. He toughed it out, made it up to Mitchell, and came back down elated. The next day he decided to head out the opposite direction on the Blue Ridge Parkway, heading up to the top of Mount Pisgah, then back down Town Mountain Road.

While the grades were not terribly steep, Matt found them to have their own unique challenges. One thing he noticed is that there is not a lot of consistency. You will be climbing at the same grade for awhile, then you will reach a flat or even a downhill before climbing again. What Matt didn’t find, was that southeast climbing can be STEEP! In fact, a lot of the climbs up to the Blue Ridge Parkway are tougher than the Parkway itself. He may have found that out if he could have ridden from Brevard, but alas, transportation was an issue.

I highly recommend you read Matt’s take on Asheville and the Blue Ridge Parkway. It’s a great read, and a great adventure. Even though he went through a lot of trouble to get here, I’m glad that he was able to enjoy it. The only real negative was that nobody recognized him as Australian, and one could mistook Australia for Austria. C’mon Americans!

Now back to Colorado. The tough part about climbing in Colorado is not really the elevation profiles. They are long, but most that I tried are relatively smooth and easy. Independence Pass was a long, gradual climb, averaging 3% over 16 miles. Mount Evans was a little steeper, averaging 4.5% over 27 miles. I understand there are some steeper climbs around the foothills. Magnolia Road near Boulder is known for being steep. Overall, they still seem to be an easier lot easier lot to climb.

What gets you in the Rockies is the elevation. I was maybe half the climber I had been in the Blue Ridge. Without being used to breathing such little oxygen, I simply could not push myself to muscle exertion. As a result, these rides were mostly slow and methodical. Believe it or not, I actually lost fitness when I got back home, as evident by my performance in last week’s Blue Ridge Brutal where I was 91st out of 135.

I’m not saying that Rocky Mountain climbing is easy in comparison. Quite the contrary! Mount Evans was possibly the most difficult thing I’ve ever done on a bike! Our climbs are also hard, and not to be discounted. They are simply different.

14 Comments | tags: asheville, australia, blue ridge mountains, climbing, cycling, independence pass, Mount Evans, mount mitchell, rocky mountains, vacation | posted in Blog

August 7, 2012

Independence Pass from Twin Lakes, CO

By aaronwest

As of Friday, I had already climbed Mount Evans and three mountain passes in five days. It was a busy week, but somehow my legs stayed fresh. Usually with this much volume, I would have been exhausted. The only reason I can think of for my vitality is the fact that I have been riding easy on the climbs. For that I can thank both the altitude and the spirit of vacation. I’m in no hurry.

I had one more big climb in me before Copper Triangle. For my last solo ride, I wanted something big. I settled on Independence Pass, the second highest paved pass in the state (according to Cyclepass.com). I was partially inspired by a report that former baseball player Barry Bonds had climbed Independence Pass recently. I may not be able to slug 74 home runs in a season, but I sure can ride my bike up a hill.

I opted to start my climb from Twin Lakes, CO. It is a tiny town, not too far from Leadville, that sits in the shadow of Colorado’s two tallest mountains — Mount Elbert and Mount Massive. Independence would be long climb of approximately 17 miles where I would be gaining 3,000 feet of elevation.

The climbs starts out relatively easily. There are a handful of sections where the climb reaches 6%, while there are others where it is flat or a slight incline. This allowed me to get comfortable in my climbing legs, and warm up appropriately. It was the perfect profile for my type of riding.

Like most of my climbing thus far in Colorado, the terrain was beautiful. At times I could make out the bald peak of Mount Elbert to my right, even if its base was obscured by smaller mountains or trees.

The route stays mostly straight for a long ways. I had heard that Independence had a twisty reputation, and assumed correctly that would be revealed later. After around 11-12 miles, I found myself in a valley with a slight incline. To my left, I could see a road rising along the cliff, going higher and higher. I would be up there before long.

The road curved left at just under the 13-mile point. It also turned upward, at a steady 5-6% grade. There was no barrier on the cliff edge, so as I climbed higher, it seemed like I was walking on air. The view below was not immediately apparent, so I stopped at the lookout where a few motorcyclists were already hanging.

Let me first clear up a misconception about motorcyclists. I’m sure there are some bad seeds here and there, but all of the riders I have encountered have been classy, respectful people. In a way we share a certain camaraderie since we appreciate nature on two wheels. These guys were very cool. We talked a lot about different rides we had done. It turned out we had climbed a number of the same southeastern hills. One guy even rode a bike, although he was too old to ride in the mountains (his words). They even offered me a bottle of water, which I declined because I had more than enough fluids.

As for the view, look at the cover photo. Breathtaking!

I rolled away on my own. The motorcyclists took their time and passed me after about a mile. I caught the picture below as they passed.

Waving goodbye to the motorcyclists. These were some good guys!

One thing the motorcyclists told me was that the climb would get steeper. That wasn’t entirely true, because it still topped out at about 6%, but the climbing was more consistent. There were not many more of the false flats that I had already enjoyed.

Do I need to talk about the scenery? It was just as gorgeous as all the other rides, if not more so. I’ll let the pictures do the talking.

Regardless how steep, a climb as long as this one becomes a grind. At some point I focus on just powering my way to the top. With that in mind, I was glad to get some levity from none other than Jens Voight, or the ‘Jensie,’ as he is called. Someone had written his trademark saying — “Shut up legs!” on the road. With maybe a mile or two remaining in the climb, I heard the message loud and clear. Yes, shut up legs. I am going to the top. I surprised myself by laughing out loud. Jens has a unique ability to put a smile on my face, regardless of the situation.

Soon enough, and I had reached the peak at 12,095 feet. That would be the second highest elevation I would reach on this trip, next to Mount Evans the previous Sunday.

I was taking the usual picture of my bike next to the elevation sign when a tourist stopped me.

“Would you like me to take your picture?”

Sure! I gave him the camera, then almost on impulse, I grabbed the bike and thrust it high in the air. I’d say the picture came out well.

The descent was hair raising near the beginning, as expected. I was careful around the curves. The big ledge where I had rested with the motorcyclists was the most unnerving because the ledge was right up against the road. I found myself drifting almost all the way into the other lane, wanting to stay as far away from that ledge as possible.

As I descended the rest of the way, I reflected on the magnificent week. Never did I expect to reach such heights in such a short time. It may sound silly or egotistical to say that I was inspired by my accomplishments, but I was, and my reflection was somewhat emotional. I proved to myself that there are no limits to achievement. I vowed then to continue setting ambitious goals, and try to accomplish what does not seem possible. More importantly, I won’t stop until I get there.